Flood and Hail in Texas, August 13, 2002

Name: Flood and Hail in Texas, August 13, 2002
Start: 2002-08-13T17:00
End: 2002-08-13T23:55
Location: Texas

August 13, 2002 · NWS SJT · 8 events in 7 counties and zones

Several severe thunderstorms moved through the Big Country in the evening hours of the 13th. These thunderstorms produced dime to nickel size hail throughout much of the Big Country.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $8,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SJT wrote it up.

Several severe thunderstorms moved through the Big Country in the evening hours of the 13th. These thunderstorms produced dime to nickel size hail throughout much of the Big Country. Later in the evening as the thunderstorms moved to the south and began to weaken over the Concho Valley, a rare heat burst occurred. The Temperature at the San Angelo airport rose 25 degrees in less than one hour. The winds produced by the heat burst downed several trees in Irion and Tom Green counties.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 13, 2:00 PM CST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 2:00 PM CST, 3 hours before

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
300 PM CDT TUE AUG 13 2002

AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS DIGGING SOUTH INTO NORTH TEXAS...WEAKENING
THE RIDGE WHICH STRETCHES FROM THE WEST COAST...TO TEXAS. ON THE
SURFACE A COLD FRONT STRETCHES FROM EASTERN WISCONSIN TO SOUTH OF
MIDLAND. THE FRONT IS MAKING SLOW SOUTH/SOUTHEAST PROGRESS NEAR 15
KNOTS BETWEEN LUBBOCK AND ABILENE. TEMPERATURES AHEAD OF THE FRONT
ARE IN THE LOWER 90S...AND 70 TO 80 DEGREES IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE.
CURRENT RADAR TRENDS SHOW THE CUMULUS FIELD STARTING TO DEVELOP
ALONG THE COLD FRONT.

TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT...
WITH THE COLD FRONT PUSHING SOUTH INTO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...ALONG
WITH THE MOIST AND UNSTABLE ENVIROMENT ALONG THE FRONT AND WITH
ISENTROPIC LIFT BEHIND THE FRONT...WILL BUMP UP POPS FOR THE
NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY.
ALSO WITH THE STRONG THETA-E RIDGE...GOOD LAPSE RATES AND FULL SUN
AHEAD OF THE FRONT MOVING IN THIS EVENING EXPECT A FEW SEVERE STORMS
POSSIBLE. WITH THE BEST LOW LEVEL SHEAR AND UPPER SUPPORT (RIGHT
ENTRANCE OF AN UPPER JET) TO THE NORTH...THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE
WILL BE ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY. ALSO WITH PW/S IN THE 1.5 TO 2.0
INCH RANGE EXPECT HEAVY RAIN IN A FEW LOCATIONS ACROSS THE NORTHERN
AND CENTRAL COUNTIES.
BOTH THE AVN AND ETA MODELS ARE SHOWING THE FRONT SLOWLY EDGING
SOUTH THROUGH THE BIG COUNTRY TONIGHT...BEFORE STALLING OUT
SOMEWHERE IN THE CENTRAL OR SOUTHERN COUNTIES. EXPECT THE FRONT TO
STALL OUT...HOWEVER WITH ANY OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES PUSHING SOUTH ACROSS
THE CENTRAL COUNTIES...THIS COULD PUSH THE FRONT TO NEAR INTERSTATE
10.
THE AVN HAS BACKED OFF OF ITS PREVIOUS AGRESSIVENESS...BUT IS STILL
TOO COOL BEHIND THE FRONT...TRYING TO BRING IN 50S FOR THE NORTHERN
BIG COUNTRY. HOWEVER WITH NOTABLY COOLER AFTERNOON TEMPS BEHIND THE
FRONT IN THE PANHANDLE TODAY AND THE FORECAST CLOUD COVER...WILL
DROP HIGHS A CATEGORY ON WEDNESDAY NORTH OF THE FRONT IN THE BIG
COUNTRY.

THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...
THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE VERY SLOWLY BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST. HOWEVER
THE RIDGE IS NOT EXACTLY ONE OF THOSE TYPICAL DOMINATE TYPES. ONCE
THE WARM FRONT LIFTS OUT...WITHOUT ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE THROUGH
NEXT WEEK...WILL CONTINUE WITH THE WARMER (TO NEAR NORMAL) AND DRY
CONDITIONS.

CCF PRELIMS...

ABI 065/085/068/090 4300
SJT 067/089/069/092 3200
JCT 068/090/070/093 2200

.SJT...NONE.

24

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 13, 12:42 PM CST, 4 hours 18 minutes before

TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140-
154-155-168>170-132200-

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
142 PM CDT TUE AUG 13 2002

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF WEST
CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

A COLD FRONT CURRENTLY MOVING INTO NORTH TEXAS ALONG WITH A MOIST
AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL CAUSE THUNDERSTORMS TO FORM LATER THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. WINDSHEAR IS ALSO FORECAST TO INCREASE ACROSS
THE BIG COUNTRY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR A
FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. THE
GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NORTH OF A LINE
FROM SAN ANGELO TO BROWNWOOD. THE MAIN THREATS LOOK TO BE STRONG
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. HOWEVER THUNDERSTORMS THAT MOVE ALONG
ANY BOUNDARIES COULD SPAWN AN BRIEF TORNADO LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY EVENING. AT THIS TIME THUNDERSTORM INITIATION LOOKS TO BE
BETWEEN NOW AND 4 PM.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED...ESPECIALLY OVER THE BIG COUNTRY.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail, 2 high wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Throckmorton

When: August 13, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Throckmorton County, 5 mi N of Throckmorton
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 33.250, -99.183

Hail, Nolan

When: August 13, 6:15 PM CST
Where: Nolan County, Roscoe
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.433, -100.533

Hail, Jones

When: August 13, 6:59 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 2 mi N of Hawley
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.650, -99.833

Hail, Taylor

When: August 13, 7:29 PM CST
Where: Taylor County, 2 mi E of Tye
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 32.450, -99.833

Flood, Taylor

When: August 13, 7:50 PM CST to 8:30 PM CST
Where: Taylor County, Abilene
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 32.301, -99.890 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Numerous roads in the city of Abilene reported to have high water on them.

Hail, Haskell

When: August 13, 9:18 PM CST
Where: Haskell County, 5 mi NW of Haskell
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 33.217, -99.817

High Wind, Tom Green

When: August 13, 11:36 PM CST to 11:55 PM CST
Where: Tom Green forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.404, -100.462 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A rare heat burst occurred around midnight over the western half of Tom Green County and the Eastern portion of Irion County. The Winds produced by the heat burst caused damage to trees throughout the city of San Angelo. This heat burst occurred when decaying thunderstorms just to the west of San Angelo produced winds that gusted to 53 mph at the Airport. The temperature also rose from 70 degrees at midnight to 94 degrees at 1 A.M.

High Wind, Irion

When: August 13, 11:40 PM CST to 11:55 PM CST
Where: Irion forecast zone
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.304, -100.982 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, August 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5313160, 5313161, 5313162, 5313163, 5313165, 5313164, 5313261, 5313262.